Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “armadillo” come from?

Armadillo comes from Spanish armadillo, a diminutive of Spanish armado, from Latin armatus, past participle of armare meaning to arm, from Latin arma meaning weapons or tools.

armadillo (English): Any of the burrowing mammals covered with bony,...

Definitions

  1. Any of the burrowing mammals covered with bony,...

Ancestry of “armadillo”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanisharmadilloarmadillo
2Spanish-illoAdded to masculine nouns to denote a diminutive...
3Old Spanish-ielloA diminutive suffix
4Latin-ellusAlternative form of -ulus; "forming masculine...
5Latin-ulusUsed to form a diminutive of a noun, indicating...
6Proto-Italic-olos—
7Proto-Italic-elos—
8Proto-Indo-European-e-lós—
9Proto-Indo-European-lósForms agent nouns from verbal roots

Words derived from “armadillo”

  • armadailín
  • armadillo
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -lós →